“The erosion of the fundamental legal rights of
all Australians have accelerated under federal law in 2018,” says Morgan
Begg, Research Fellow at free-market think tank the Institute of Public
Affairs.
The IPA’s report Legal Rights Audit 2018,
authored by IPA Research Fellow Morgan Begg, was featured in The Australian this morning. It revealed
that the legal rights of the presumption of innocence, natural justice, the
right to silence and the privilege against self-incrimination are explicitly breached
by 358 separate provisions in Acts of federal Parliament.
“By stripping away important principles like the presumption of innocence, the right to silence, and the privilege against self-incrimination, our legal system will not achieve just outcomes.”
“The fact that there has been another substantial increase in legal rights breaches proves it is a systemic problem.”
“The Morrison government must make it a priority to reverse course and address our legal rights problem.”
“These findings are a huge blow to the idea that Australia’s legal system is built on the rule of law,” says Mr Begg.
Download the report here.
